Luga-baruga

For the second time this year, we went away and did a few walks well away from home. No need to catch up miles on the Sunday after walking on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, in between catching up with relatives on both sides of the family in the Midlands. That is fortunate given a rather unsettled stomach last night and feeling a bit of a need to recover quietly today.

We were in the Leicester area on Tuesday night and walked into the city, around and about on the Wednesday. It was good to see a long path away from the main roads, and we took in the free and excellent value-for-money Leicester Museum and Art Exhibition, paying respects on the way to public sector workers striking. In the afternoon we went to the Richard III Visitor Centre. It is amazing how little I know about the history of our kings and queens but it is so complicated back in the day when death in battle or by some purposeful means seemed to be the norm, along with the apparent complexities for deciding who succeeded. If I had been around them, I would have avoided being the king like the plague (though that was nearly 200 years later). Life expectancy was short and even shorter if you made enemies. After leaving a city that appears very organised in a disorganised way – and I mean that in a refreshing and positive sense – we walked back to our place. 7.72 miles.

On Thursday, on advice from one of the hotel receptionists, we spent a few hours at Bradgate Park, just north-west of Leicester. Good choice. This is a big area with deer and some good walking tracks. It was tougher going after an hour or so as the grassy areas were sodden but we walked uphill to Old John’s Tower, a pretty steep climb and we had not taken the easiest route. We pretty much did a circuit of the park plus that ascent and descent; our thighs ached on the way up and our knees hurt on the way down. An ok cup of tea and scone in the cafe at the end. The distance of 5.77 miles in no way betrayed how hard some of that walk was.

We visited Tamworth and then Swadlincote on the Thursday evening and the Friday afternoon. Driving not walking, though coincidentally I did walk between those two towns on my long walk, 9 years ago almost to the day, but not quite the same route. It was a lovely day and – as Charles Hanson often says on BBC’s Bargain Hunt – we made a memory.

Back home on Friday night and out again late on Saturday morning to Hayling Island. It is the 4th time I have walked down the Hayling Billy Line from the top of the island down to the sea front. Pammy and I saw our bench (dedicated to my Mum, Dad and sister Joy) replenished with fresh plaque, replacing the original that had been mysteriously removed last year. We stopped and had fish and chips at my parents’ favourite place (do not say it, do not make that pun) though I had chicken, which I usually prefer. I felt the chicken was a trifle overdone.

On the walk back, I felt a bit more tired than I should have, given the distance, but we powered on back to the car. In a quieter moment, I wondered how Leicester is pronounced ‘Lester’ and I recalled a story of an American tourist saying he was staying in ‘Luga-baruga’. That pronunciation (of Loughborough) was remarkably similar to the sound that my stomach made when I went into a garage to use their facilities. It must have been the chicken and it’s one reason why I rarely walk on a full stomach. 9.70 miles, incidentally.

Feeling better this morning without much energy. Starving yourself of food sometimes works in clearing that sort of thing, but with plenty of water and tea (not too much milk). A day off from walking today and plenty of footie on tv and radio.